Price, Net Positions & Open Interest:

Current Trader Positions as Percent of Open Interest:

Commercial Trader Positions:

The commercial traders position this week came in at a total net position of -597,925 contracts. This was a weekly change of -30,290 contracts from the total net of -567,635 contracts reported the previous week.

The commercials Strength Index level, a score that measures the contract levels of the past three years within a range of 0 to 100, shows that Commercials are currently at a Bearish level with a score of 34.1 percent.

At the extreme levels, commercials are very important to watch as they have a tendency to be correct at the major turning points in price trends.

TRADER TYPE DATA:

COMMERCIALS

– Percent of Open Interest Longs:

32.5

– Percent of Open Interest Shorts:

59.2

– Net Position:

-597,925

– Gross Longs:

730,106

– Gross Shorts:

1,328,031

– Long to Short Ratio:

0.5 to 1

NET POSITION TREND:

– COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct):

34.1

– COT Index Reading (3 Year Range):

Bearish

NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:

– 6-Week Change in Strength Index:

-25.2

Large Speculator Positions:

The large speculator position this week was a total net position of 567,272 contracts. This was a weekly change of 12,415 contracts from the total net of 554,857 contracts reported the previous week.

The large speculators Strength Index level, the current score for traders compared to levels of the past three years, shows that specs are currently at a Bullish level with a score of 62.8 percent.

Speculators are seen as trend followers and usually trade in tandem with the price direction. At the extreme levels, specs are also very important to watch as they have a tendency to bet the wrong way (that the trend will continue to even more extreme levels).

TRADER TYPE DATA:

SPECULATORS

– Percent of Open Interest Longs:

28.5

– Percent of Open Interest Shorts:

3.2

– Net Position:

567,272

– Gross Longs:

639,009

– Gross Shorts:

71,737

– Long to Short Ratio:

8.9 to 1

NET POSITION TREND:

– COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct):

62.8

– COT Index Reading (3 Year Range):

Bullish

NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:

– 6-Week Change in Strength Index:

20.9

Small Trader Positions:

The small traders position this week totaled a net position of 30,653 contracts. This was a weekly change of 17,875 contracts from the total net of 12,778 contracts reported the previous week.

The small traders Strength Index level shows that smalls are currently at a Bullish level with a score of 68.4 percent.

Small traders are less important to watch (in most cases) as their numbers tend to be just a small part of the total trading open interest.

TRADER TYPE DATA:

SMALL TRADERS

– Percent of Open Interest Longs:

4.4

– Percent of Open Interest Shorts:

3.0

– Net Position:

30,653

– Gross Longs:

98,884

– Gross Shorts:

68,231

– Long to Short Ratio:

1.4 to 1

NET POSITION TREND:

– COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct):

68.4

– COT Index Reading (3 Year Range):

Bullish

NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:

– 6-Week Change in Strength Index:

44.5

*COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the most recent Tuesday (data is 3 days old) and shows a quick view of how large speculators or non-commercials (for-profit traders) as well as the commercial traders (hedgers & traders for business purposes) were positioned in the futures markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators). Find CFTC criteria here: (http://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/CommitmentsofTraders/ExplanatoryNotes/index.htm).